Saturday, March 08, 2008

Good reads

I haven't had a lot of time to read recently, but here's a list of what I have read:
Orson Scott Card: "Empire", "A War of Gifts", and a short fantasy story (that's supposedly being followed up by a new novel and maybe even a new series). The short story was very good (I'm excited to read more from this world), as was the short novel "A War of Gifts". "Empire" would've been good, except I never bought into a big part of the plot. I don't want to spoil the book for those planning to read it, so if you're planning to read it, skip the next paragraph.
Card basically sets up a war between extreme left-wingers and the US government. My problem...if liberals were to attack the US, it wouldn't be with guns, tanks, etc. Those are right-wing tools. So the whole scenario is screwy, with liberals guiding around amazing killing machines and killing every cop they can find. Sorry, but when liberals attack, it's with words, not with guns. And yes, the pen is mightier than the sword.
April and I have also been reading the Fablehaven books. They're fun. April loves them.
My favorite new books are by Cinda Williams Chima. I read her series out of order...I read "The Wizard Heir" before "The Warrior Heir". Not a big problem. The main characters are high-school kids, and "Wizard" reminded me early on of Harry Potter...except the school is evil and the kid's very tech-savvy. Highly recommended.
So go read the Ender's Game short novel, and definitely check out Cinda Williams Chima.

4 comments:

Cougarg said...

Yeah I don't see liberal Americans going Rambo, at least not now or in any immediate future. But I think any group that thinks it is absolutely correct can get it in their head that force is an acceptable way of dealing with differences. Especially if there is a charismatic leader, and a percieved galvanizing offense.

I am only half joking here but the pen is only mightier than the sword if there are enough people paying attention to the pen. The US did not get involved militarily in WWII until Japan dropped its sword on Pearl Harbor, despite reading how bad it was getting in Europe and the Pacific for years.

Tim said...

As far as the Wizard Heir books...read them in order, if you can. It's not like most series, where you'll be lost if you don't read them in order...but there are some nice surprises that you'll want to read about in the correct order.

Anonymous said...

I think I've mentioned this, but I have The Warrior Heir on my shelf waiting to get read, too.

Tim said...

Awesome, Jay.
Hope you enjoy it too.